The Adventures of Odysseus and The Tales of Troy | Page 2

went by and Odysseus did not return. After ten years the City was taken by the Kings and
Princes of Greece and the thread of war was wound up. But still Odysseus did not return.
And now minstrels came to Ithaka with word of the deaths or the homecomings of the
heroes who had fought in the war against Troy. But no minstrel brought any word of
Odysseus, of his death or of his appearance in any land known to men. Ten years more
went by. And now that infant son whom he had left behind, Telemachus, had grown up
and was a young man of strength and purpose.
[Illustration]

II

One day, as he sat sad and disconsolate in the house of his father, the youth Telemachus
saw a stranger come to the outer gate. There were many in the court outside, but no one
went to receive the newcomer. Then, because he would never let a stranger stand at the
gate without hurrying out to welcome him, and because, too, he had hopes that some day
such a one would bring him tidings of his father, Telemachus rose up from where he was
sitting and went down the hall and through the court and to the gate at which the stranger
stood.
'Welcome to the house of Odysseus,' said Telemachus giving him his hand. The stranger
clasped it with a friendly clasp. 'I thank you, Telemachus,' he said, 'for your welcome,
and glad I am to enter the house of your father, the renowned Odysseus.'
The stranger looked like one who would be a captain amongst soldiers. His eyes were
grey and clear and shone wonderfully. In his hand he carried a great bronze spear. He and
Telemachus went together through the court and into the hall. And when the stranger left
his spear within the spearstand Telemachus took him to a high chair and put a footstool
under his feet.
He had brought him to a place in the hall where the crowd would not come. There were
many in the court outside and Telemachus would not have his guest disturbed by
questions or clamours. A handmaid brought water for the washing of his hands, and
poured it over them from a golden ewer into a silver basin. A polished table was left at
his side. Then the house-dame brought wheaten bread and many dainties. Other servants
set down dishes of meat with golden cups, and afterwards the maids came into the hall
and filled up the cups with wine.
But the servants who waited on Telemachus and his guest were disturbed by the crowd of
men who now came into the hall. They seated themselves at tables and shouted out their
orders. Great dishes of meat were brought to them and bowls of wine, and the men ate
and drank and talked loudly to each other and did not refrain even from staring at the
stranger who sat with Telemachus.
'Is there a wedding-feast in the house?' the stranger asked, 'or do the men of your clan
meet here to drink with each other?'
A flush of shame came to the face of Telemachus. 'There is no wedding-feast here,' he
said, 'nor do the men of our clan meet here to drink with each other. Listen to me, my
guest. Because you look so wise and because you seem so friendly to my father's name I
will tell you who these men are and why they trouble this house.'
Thereupon, Telemachus told the stranger how his father had not returned from the war of
Troy although it was now ten years since the City was taken by those with whom he went.
'Alas,' Telemachus said, 'he must have died on his way back to us, and I must think that
his bones lie under some nameless strait or channel of the ocean. Would he had died in
the fight at Troy! Then the Kings and Princes would have made him a burial-mound
worthy of his name and his deeds. His memory would have been reverenced amongst
men, and I, his son, would have a name, and would not be imposed upon by such men as

you see here--men who are feasting and giving orders in my father's house and wasting
the substance that he gathered.'
'How come they to be here?' asked the stranger. Telemachus told him about this also.
When seven years had gone by from the fall of Troy and still Odysseus did not return
there were those who thought he was dead and would never be seen more in the land of
Ithaka. Then many of the young lords of the land wanted Penelope, Telemachus' mother,
to marry one of them. They came to the house to woo her for marriage. But she,
mourning